Connecticut is leading the nation in getting people COVID-19 vaccines, but Gov. Ned Lamont says it could be moving much faster if there were more doses.

President Biden's COVID-19 strategy that he announced Thursday will mean big things for the state. Washington will now pay all the costs of distributing and administering vaccines.

"We'll move heaven and Earth to get more people vaccinated for free, and create more places for them to get vaccinated,” said the president.

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The White House is also creating a national testing board, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona is issuing new guidelines to schools and Yale’s Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith is leading efforts to get people of color vaccinated.

"The pandemic has disproportionately impacted on Blacks, Latinos, and Native Americans, who are about four times as likely to be hospitalized and three times more likely to die,” said President Biden.

Gov. Lamont welcomes the changes. Connecticut, so far, has vaccinated 226,000 people.

"Right now, I'd say the No. 1 bottleneck is probably the incredibly customized, specialized equipment you need to mix the vaccines,” said Lamont.

To unclog that "bottleneck" – President Biden is invoking the wartime Defense Production Act.

"Our provider partners are ready to go,” said Dr. Deidre Gifford, the acting state public health commissioner. “There are so many vaccination sites already in operation and more teed up in line.  But they're limited."

President Biden says there's no time to waste.

"We are in a national emergency. It's time we start treating it like one,” he said.

Dr. Gifford also announced Thursday that people in prisons and group homes will get the vaccine at the same time as people over 65.